Mauer, Lamb, Kubel and Everett return for Thursday’s series finale
Posted on April 3rd, 2008 – 9:42 AMBy Joe Christensen
The Twins will go with their A-lineup for Thursday’s series finale after Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel, Mike Lamb and Adam Everett got a breather Wednesday.
History says this might be a tough day for Justin Morneau to end his early season skid. He is 1-for-7 (.143) for his career against Angels starter Ervin Santana. Manager Ron Gardenhire had this to say Wednesday night about Morneau’s 0-for-10 start:
“It’s early. It’s been three baseball games. And sometimes it takes a while to get going. All it takes is one good swing, and then he’ll take off and be fine. He’s pressing. He wants to hit, and he’s pressing a little bit. He’ll get some good pitches, they’ll make some mistakes and he’ll hit them, and then he’ll get going.”
Said Morneau: “Obviously you’d like to have some hits, so you have some numbers on the board and you don’t have to look up and see zeros. At the same time, you’re going to have stretches during the year when you go 0-for-10 or 0-for-whatever. it just stands out a little more when you don’t have any numbers up there. I’m confident it will turn around.”
ANGELS
1. Chone Figgins, 3B
2. Gary Matthews Jr., RF
3. Vladimir Guerrero, DH
4. Garret Anderson, LF
5. Torii Hunter, CF
6. Casey Kotchman, 1B
7. Howie Kendrick, 2B
8. Mike Napoli, C
9. Maicer Izturis, SS
Starting pitcher: RH Ervin Santana
TWINS
1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Joe Mauer, C (He is 4-for-6 with three RBI for his career off E. Santana.)
3. Michael Cuddyer, RF
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Delmon Young, LF
6. Jason Kubel, DH
7. Mike Lamb, 3B
8. Brendan Harris, 2B
9. Adam Everett, SS
Starting pitcher: RH Kevin Slowey
Metrodome. First pitch: 12:10 p.m.
198 Responses to "Mauer, Lamb, Kubel and Everett return for Thursday’s series finale"
Wow our starters!
What does the L in LNP stand for?
Looks like Gardy wants to win today.
This makes me happy.
Loser!
“What does the L in LNP stand for?”
Little?
Loathsome?
Lousy?
Lambatbatstealer?
Lurid?
little nicky punto
Hmmm, doesn’t look liek Scoscia gives his players days off like Gardy does. Their line-up is pretty much the same all 4 games and their players are much older than ours.
How does one apply for Gardy’s job? Do you contact Bill Smith directly or do you need to get a hold of Carl?
“How does one apply for Gardy’s job? Do you contact Bill Smith directly or do you need to get a hold of Carl?”
I think you have to be a below-average middle-infielder in the bigs for a few years, then live in Minnesota, enjoy fishing, and shop at your local hardware store.
I think they’ll contact you then.
Also, I think the reason that Gardy loves Punto so much is that he used to be the exact same thing as Punto.
Career
Gardy .232/.277/.296, 62 OPS+
Punto .245/.314/.321, 69 OPS+
Hmm….
Hey….the real team is back!!!
I don’t know Bill Brasky - are you obsessed with Lefty/Righty matchups? Also, you have to irrationally hate players for random reasons. Can you do that?
Hope the real team doesnt look like the one I saw play tuesday!
how has santana looked this spring? doesn’t he tend to be a little wild,
perfect against the free swinging twins. (we seem to be close to the bottom in team walks every year) see: wiki, hitting coach; vavra-swing at the first pitch hit weak grounder to infielders, easy out or easy double play!
so sad for blacky.. they better make up for it with slowey or ill be very mad…. everyone knows he deserved a win yesterday…. morneau and mauer need to be 3/4 and harris go second.. idc if thats 2 lefties you know.. so what they face a left handed batter.. they get 10 mil every 6 months too do so..
“I don’t know Bill Brasky - are you obsessed with Lefty/Righty matchups? Also, you have to irrationally hate players for random reasons. Can you do that?”
You also have to hate players that “don’t have the fire in them” and play crappy, no-hit decent-fielders over them.
left handed pitcher* not batter
The Angels will rotate their outfields through the DH spot. He has 4 players who he can play every day in those spots.
Kubel 2-for-3 against Ervin.
I’m playing the part of cubs fan today and ducking out of work to hit up the game.
Twins win 7-3 today. Morneau goes yard. Mauer drives in Gomez twice. Slowey goes 7 innings with 6 hits, 2 runs. Gomez gets a bunt down in fair territory without stepping on it for a base hit and steals two bases. Twins go 2-2 against best of the west. That ain’t too bad. Young pitchers looking good. Bats are always chilly in April (check out some of the other premier teams so far). The sun will shine tomorrow. Life is good in Minnesota. (you could be in Kansas City). Enjoy.
3 games into the season and guys already needed a breather?
wha…wha….wha….whaaaaaatttt? come on!
Carlos G,
I thought you were summing up our getaway game played at 6AM this morning.
I had already flipped the top of a brew before I realized you were PREDICTING!
Crap!
Oh, well, its already opened.
Only the Twins give guys days off 2 games into the season. I wonder if they will ever have a guy play 162 games in a season again. You knew Gardy couldn’t resist getting Punto in there this soon. Let Lamb play ever day.
Should we sneak out of work and go
I think everyone on this blog should sneak out of work and go to the game
I am not defending Gardy for playing LNP last night, but he did play a heck of a ball game last night. Made some nice plays in the field, got a hit and was robbed of another hit.
At least LNP did something positive, let’s give him credit, it doesn’t happen often.
I would love to leave work and go to the game. That would be awesome.
AaronK your right but theres so much hate for him on this blog that we know he’ll never get credit where credit is due.
Baseball
Work
Beer
This is the list of priorities in life
A breather after the first two games? What kind of managing is that? Man, it’s going to be a long season.
I would love to go to the game, but I would’ve had to leave an hour ago to make it.
Jimmy… work?
Come on.
Baseball
Beer
Family
Work
SweetOne, to bad. I am going to call and see. KC has been doing very well this year and I couldn’t go to a game and see them possibly lose to them. I COULD NOT POSSIBLY TAKE IT !!!!! I don’t know I might have to pull off a Ferris Bueller
Well, they did put in a whole two games worth of effort (even though game 2’s effort is debatable). Yeah, I’d say these pampered, overpaid athletes deserve a break!! We don’t want them to over-exert themselves.
I’d love to sneak out to go to the game…. but its a 16 hour drive 
I wish I got a breather after every two days of work.
I have a pair of FREE tickets for todays game if you can make it to White Bear Lake and down to the dome in the next hour, click on my name and email me. (the craigslist post says $24, but they’re free for Joe C. readers today)
Gardy is the type of manager who is going to use his entire roster the first week of the season and who will not let players who are reasonably healthy rot on the bench for long periods. TK did the same thing. So do several other managers, present and past.
You would think fans who whine about this would just save their breathe. You would be wrong.
A quick comment on last night’s game. When did the big Canadian at first morph into Dougie Baseball? He made two great plays in the field. The back hand no look flip on the smash he knocked down and the big stretch to catch little nickey punto’s brillent grab and throw of the bunt. And like Dougie his bat is a cold 0-10.
RyanW I would have to agree but I forgot one thing
Baseball
Beer
Family
Cat/Dog
Work
After two days of work…I’m tired. I need a breather!
Really Punto was robbed of 2 hits. Saunders robbed him up the middle and late in the game he was robbed of a double because they had the late inning positioned on the line defense on.
I give him crdit for last night.
Hey, Gleeman made an excellent point about Punto playing 3b though. If Punto is “gold glove caliber” at all three infield positions as some nameless backup catcher who likes to be naked would suggest, why did Gardy play him at the least important defenseive position of three?
hmmmm
Gardy has a plan. He’s just getting settled into his rotation of players so everyone has a chance to get after it. Not to worry everything will come together, unless of course he changes things again before it can. Punto was awesome, he got to 3rd base, got a hit, made a nice play and missed a grounder should have been an error but give him a break. Be happy, win Twins!
yeah, I was staying positive today, I didn’t even mention the grounder Punto missed.
Bill Brasky,
Scoscia changed his SS and C from yesterday even though the Twins pitched consecutive right-handed pitchers!
What’s wrong with that guy?
He must have flunked out of the same managers school as Gardy.
Don’t cut HIM any slack!
Players didn’t rest cuz they were tired; Others played cuz they hadn’t yet. First TK and now Gardy, they have ALWAYS managed their teams that way … keeping all players involved. You know that. Get a clue. Punto had a great game. Number one web gem on ESPN and a base hit. If you don’t have the balls to say something good when he does good, then at least simply SHUT UP for the day. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to bash the rest of the season.
Q,
Punto played third base because, if the Twins could have chased Saunders (fat chance!) Lamb could have replaced LNP, instead of replacing Tolbert.
TE - Take a breather! You must be tired. Holy crap. 3 days into the season and you’ve already blown your top. The Twins have scored 1 run in the last two games. Albeit early in the season, but Twins fans have seen this all before and have reason to be concerned. We have a couple young pitchers that will need the offensive help this year in order to win games. If the beginning on the season is any indication as to how things might be for the season, then allow fans to voice their opinion on how lousy the offense might be. If you want to be the optimist and focus on a good play made by a bench player, then by all means do so. But don’t knock others for voicing their concerns.
right back at ya “tired” … maybe you should go back to bed
bc not of nd-Your boy Garza got lit up last night.Maybe we all will be best served to wait at least 3 years to evaluate the Johan and Garza trades!
I sure wish Joe would post some replies here…HEY JOE…if the starters keep pitching well, how soon will the Twins go back to 11-man staff? June? July?
Blackburn should not head back to the minors after Liriano comes up. Find some other pitcher to dump.
Like Rincon.
Nice work, John S. I like the commitment to the blog community…too bad I’m stuck at work today or I would take you up on it…
I give Gardy credit for resisting the urge to play Punto today…yes, he had a great game yesterday by his standards, but he shouldn’t have been in the lineup in the first place and we can’t get into this ‘get Punto in there somewhere’ habit everyday like we did a year ago….
Gotta love baseball at work!
Blackburn did just great last night. I have wanted a good quality RH SP for a while and my hope is that this will be the one
Breather? Seriously… breather? What is spring training for? I’m speechless.
People are sitting at work posting in a blog complaining about not getting a breather at work. Ironic and funny.
Sane,
That would make sense, but the way I understand it Tolbert and Harris also play all three infield positions.
It seems like downgrading at third to improve up the middle makes more sense. Unless you’re suggesting you don’t want the younger players playing two positions in one game.
I think maybe we should all just realize Punto isn’t a very good shortstop.
I can’t believe anyone would ride Punto after last night. Play of the game, got a hit and was the only Twin to progress to third base.
I am ready for Mauer, Morneau and Cuddyer to start hitting…
c’mon twins fans…lets stay positive..punto is a big part of this team and i applaud gardy for getting not only punto, but all the bench guys in…this is a team, and thats what teams do…all contribute and play, creating a thing called chemistry, and thats one thing the twins have been fairly successful doing….this season is young,and last nites game just gutted me, because they couldnt get a bunt down, and i blame gardy for that, but its over and can only hope that today they go out and knock the rust off these bats….damn, the pitching has been more than could have been expected…BB pitched his guts out last nite, and if thats a sign of things to come from this young man, 2008 will be more than exciting…so lets accept punto (he played a hell of a game last eve) and the rest and see how much fun this team can be…im confident things are going to be very good….
Iowa Twin So you don’t think blogging at work is stressfull? If you keep reading some of the repititous rips on this blog you’ll need a day off as well.
LOL Iowa…second poster who wants to praise Punto for getting to third base. Seriously, where have our standards gone?
Maybe you should take a second to understand the post. It wasn’t some awesome accomplishment that Punto got the third it just so happened that he was the ONLY one who got even that far. On top of that he had a magnificent defensive play. One that possibly saved runs and one that Lamb would not have made.
when I was 15 I got to 3rd base with a 38 year old mother of one of my friends. None of you were praising me then…………
Wait did I just say that out loud
BC..now, thats funny
charlie…did you slide in??
head first??
Hey….the real team is back!!!
If it wasn’t last night, it would’ve been today. (Though I will admit I was suprised Punto got the start over Tolbert when Lamb sat)
It would’ve made more sense if Tolbert was in for Lamb last night, with Punto having to come in when Everett had to leave for family reasons.
It was nice to see Punto respond by getting a hit. Hopefully he can make good on his limited at bats this season and land a more prominent utility role on a team that needs him more. (Tolbert’s here to stay barring a miracle recovery by Punto)
But we got the A-Team back tonight, and with that extra rest they’ll hopefully be good to go for the entire KC series.
And just for the sake of curiosity…what is “acceptable” level of starts for Punto? I did say at the beginning of the season I figured Tolbert would get the lion’s share of starts over Punto. (not counting something like last night’s situation with Everett having to leave) But I guess we should set ground rules as to what our “acceptable levels” are.
I’ve got no problem with once a week.
I’m sure Mike Lamb loves to hear that…
I understood the post just find…you wanted to give Punto credit for getting to third base, now you’re backing off on it…
Look, the defensive play was awesome, for sure, but it represents the same kind of nonesense that led to LNP getting 472 at-bats last season and hitting .210. You just can’t play a guy for dazzling defense (and fyi, he also missed a ball earlier in the game); this isn’t NFL football or NBA basketball…defense isn’t that important. Plus, there’s absolutely no evidence that play saved a run.
went head first. Luckily I was wearing a glove and didn’t break a finger…….
LOL T…it was once in 3 games when I made the remark, not once a week.
or your neck!!
second poster who wants to praise Punto for getting to third base. Seriously, where have our standards gone?
He got a hit. That’s good. He stole a base. That’s also good. He got to third on a bad throw (not his doing, but also good).
I don’t recall how many outs there were…but what more do you want?
I’m not going to start up the “Punto’s BACK!” chants. Because it’s one game and Punto’s just as likely to go back into a slump as Morneau is likely to break out of his.
Charlie and Mj stop before i wet my pants.
You are right on mj. Bench players are very important to the success of our season. I think Punto and Tolbert did an awesome job last. It was our batters 4 through 7 that went 0 for 11. I feel much more confident in Tolbert now. I thought he might get overwhelmed but he did good in IMO. I think we are going to light it up today.
All this negativity sucks. Dont you people realize that last nights game was over before 9:30? Now in less time it takes to watch a movie, you can see 9 innings of a baseball game. Think of the marketing opportunities here folks. The twins could do a “less than 10″ promotion. See less than 10 true major leaguers string together less than 10 singles before 10:00 pm. If the Twins score more than 10 runs in any month, all kids get in free.
Hey, Punto hit a couple balls on the ground last night… if he starts doing that more often, I will sure dispise him far less.
He is fast enough, if he just puts the ball on the ground he should be able to hit .250… that is all I ask for… just no more lazy fly balls…
it was once in 3 games when I made the remark, not once a week.
I was saying my understanding of “acceptable starts” is once a week (and not just for Lamb)
I just figured I’d put out there my expectations so we’re not on two completely different levels.
BC of ND
Believe me when you are 15 it is a miracle I didn’t wet my pants too………….
I am disappointed. I thought the B squad would only produce 3 hits. I was one off.
gardy pulled gomez to his office after the game, i guess i wonder why ulger didnt talk to him after the first attempt at bunting for a base hit failed…all they needed was a sacrifice…i put that one on mgmt..
Livan to the Pedro Martinez-less in a couple starts…get a couple more of their prospects 
If I hadn’t been playing so deep with a speedy hitter that can bunt up I wouldn’t have had to make that play. I would have had the other gronder if I played every day. Damn, I didn’t get to slide into first!
only way to see todays game is on mlb.tv or direct tv…. is that correct??
Lets be politically correct people. The “B Squad” is way too negative. They should be called the soon to be free agent squad. Or, the future roster of our AAA team.
Dont be so negative. They almost scored last night.
Correct mj1.
Bert and Ernie are taking the day off to prep for the Royals series.
did gardy call punto into his office last year everytime he didn’t get a bunt down? or did he say a heck of an attempt, he got after it good, just bad luck!
mj1 punto can’t bunt and alot of other twins can’t bunt either. Fundamentals like bunting are becoming a lost art that should be practiced over and over again
Glass
Is Gomez, Harris, Cuddyer, Mauer, Morneau, Young, and Monroe on our B sqaud? Those players played in the agme last night and went a combined 2 for 19. We need a better B sqaud I guess!
jimmy…i couldnt agree more…making millions of dollars and cant bunt..its laughable, almost
make em stay after the game, like they did the other nite catching popups…
A lot of speedy players drag bunt in sac bunt situations. Icriro and Punto do it all the time. People only care about it when it dosent work.
The concern over Gomez’s attempt is a classic example of monday morning QBing. If he would have put one in play, there would be no post game meeting. If he would have beat it out, we would be raving about how great it is that he was so aggressive. In truth, Gardy had 4 oppertunities to move a base runner to scoring position with less than 2 outs in the last 4 innings. He really only tried it once. His gameplan let Redmond hit into a dp in the 8th and another dp in the 7th… if Gardy wants to have a post game meeting, mabye someone can have one with him about his strategy.
If someone really wants to complain maybe they ought to ask why Big Morny with his Big Money is not hitting anything. Yeah, Punto can’t hit but he’s not really getting paid to.
Punto played well last night!! So give the guy a break.
anyone know whats happened to len3—both him and the homerun have disappeared…
Gardy should have been quizzed why slow-poke Redmond didn’t bunt again in the 8th…
Kubel and Livan plus a prospect to the Mets for F-Mart?
AAA rochester opens up today also…
Mauer should work with Gomez on his hitting. Remember what happened when Mauer worked with Morneau, Mr. Mvp appeared. Could make Gomez a little better at the plate
That’s right, jimmy…
Come to think of it, Mauer should baptize my son, too…he’ll get to heaven for sure that way!
ok is it just me or is Gameday not working today?
Come to think of it, Mauer should baptize my son, too…he’ll get to heaven for sure that way!
I happened to hear a few “Go Baby Jesus!” chants while at the game last night.
At one point the guy next to me yelled “Go oh Sweet Son of Nazareth!” which got a better response than I would’ve expected.
The Home Run Porch just ain’t what it used to be in terms of fan involvement.
nice start, Slowey.
Jason, Mauer should be the hitting coach on his off days. I think that he volunteers for this and forces everyone to buy one of Joe Mauer’s Quickswing Batting Training Aids before he helps out each player
Good first inning for Slowey…
Q,
What I meant is that:
If Lamb is a planned substitution when a RHP replaces a LHP, and Lamb plays 3B only, you may as well have the guy Lamb replaces start at 3B.
Punto(.210) is the guy you want to bat for and replace with Lamb. You would rather Tolbert and Harris continue to bat for themselves.
Its clear in my head, even if I am unable to write it clearly.
not yet charlie? always behind though i suppose. predictions for today anyone? i’m sayin cuddy gets the 1st h.r. of the season twins 4-3
Twins, including Michelle, go quietly in bottom of the first again…
Quickswing Batting Aid - Joe Mauer Signature Series
NEW PRODUCT
Quick Stick Trainer
It’s time to sloooooow down this losing streak and I’m the guy to do it. My off speed stuff will have “Figgins is waaay out in front of that change up as he swings and misses for strike three. The off speed pithes have these Angels hitters off balance and looking like little leaguers.” I’ll take Slowey for the WIN.
If it hasn’t already been said, Miguel Cabrera is day-to-day with a sore quad over in Detroit.
Boy, that would suck for them.
Do you think Mauer coached Morneau to MVP in 2006, but decided he wasn’t getting enough credit and abandoned him?
Or do you give credit to Mauer for everyone hitting well and give him a pass on everyone slumping?
That IS a hometown favorite.
Sane says:
April 3rd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Do you think Mauer coached Morneau to MVP in 2006, but decided he wasn’t getting enough credit and abandoned him?
yes
Would a rally be too much to ask for?
Or how about a HR? Do we have to wait for May for one of those?
looks like more offensive firepower today!
OK, enough of this garbage…someone get Punto in there to break up this perfect game!
mlb.tv sucks
Early Trade Returns:
Garza 0-0 8.44
Bartlett .143
Young .455
Harris .222
Sane
Thanks for posting that. How about early contract returns?
Morneau .000
Silva 1-0, 1.29
Obviously, it’s early.
Anybody else have problems with Gameday Audio?
ouch I wonder if the Twins can come back from being down 1-0
SweetOne, Gameday Audio is working fine for me.
jimmybee,
If Mauer coached Morneau to MVP in 2006, but decided he wasn’t getting enough credit and abandoned him, Joe should put that in his Quick-Swing ads.
“Quick Swing is worth 50 points in your batting average!!!” (.321 t0 .271)
3-0 Angels…Matthews, Jr. HR
ouch…
Gameday Audio sucks
Slowey is a little too Radke like in the number of HRs that he gives up…
Hate to make quick decisions, but Slowey “HE GONE!!”
Blackburn “HE STAYS!!”
Tell the Twins
Its not THAT Santana!!
It looks like Gardenhire is back to his failed tactics of platooning already. There is a good possibility that the Twins could have won the game yesturday and Blackburn’s outstanding effort would not have been waisted were it not for Gardenhire’s obsession for unnecessary platooning of players. He costs the Twins alot of games. He cost the team at least 20 to 25 games in 2007 by not putting the best possible lineup on the field every day. Don’t expect the team to win the division until they get a better manager.
Sane, judging pitchers by one start, or 3 innings, is not sane.
Thanks Tony,
I guess I’m screwed than as it doesn’t work for me today.
Is it too much to expect the Twins to hit at least 1 homer in a 4 game series and score more than a run per game?
Im going to go out on a limb and say the Twins will have the fewest runs scored in the A.L. this year. Possibly in all of baseball. It is going to be between the Twins and Giants for Fewests Runs Scored. Its sad when you get down 3-0 and don’t have much hope that you are going to come back.
I agree. It seems like Gardy uses the “Managing in A.L. For Dummies” book where it says to platoon players, limit pitch counts to 90, and let 5′8″ utility players that slide head first into 1B on the roster as long as possible. How else did Denny Hocking stay in the league for 10 years?
Oh yeah….add on to that that the Twins will be near the bottom in Homers and Extra base hits.
Hey Seth,
Coste has a solo HR for the Phils today.
no mlb.tv …blackout game in fargo…that sucks..
In 102 ABs this year, the Twins are hitting .216 with 0 homers, 4 runs scored and 4 extra base hits (all doubles). It’s like fielding a team entirely made up of Nick Punto’s.
The Twins have hit into more double plays than doubles, triples, and homers combined.
I saw that… on the first pitch he saw this season. Not a bad start. Maybe it’ll help him sell more copies of The 33 Year Old Rookie! 
So Monroe starts on Monday against a righty, and posters on here are up in arms because Kubel isnt DHing against a righty… now we are complaining that Gardy plays right handed hitters against a lefty last night…
A lot of teams rebuild. The Twins, lately, since late 90’s. Seem to be in maintain mode. We would have been great if we would have landed Delmon Young, kept Hunter and lost Santana. This was, in my opinion, the proper route. Now we will be mediocore again. Frustrating………
A lot of people are struggling to hit this year, look at the Tigers and their 150 mil payroll. This can be remedied by shuffling the order. Mauer and Morneau have not responded well to their new spots in the lineup.
when does joe vavra start coming in to play in this twins situation…as hitting coach, should he not be responsible for some of this lack of…whatever… i dont know much about vavra, other than i guess he works hard and puts in hours, but…what does he know….just trying to think of things to figure out this lack of hitting…when there are so many good hitters…
on the bright side morneau popped it up instead of grounding out. few 100 more feet he may fly out.
this is sick can this team score 4 runs?
Why is Slowey being removed?
Slowey is pulled. Something is up after a grounder to third. Trainer came out.
Mediocrity unfortunately is what we are in store for a while. The Twins have a few above average players but they are putting their future on these guys and its going to be sad to see them open the new stadium with a non competitive team. I sure hope Im wrong.
If you cant blame it on Gardy or the B team I guess you will just say the twins suck! 6 more innings to play
Well…the Slowey injury will open up a spot for Liriano.
hello glen perkins??? humber…hope we dont have to start this already…i really want this starting staff to gel from the beginning…..
Great… well I guess Brian Bass is a happy man, he will stick around a little longer if Slowey is injured…
yea chris…what the hell is wrong with me.. i forgot about liriano….beat me…
I don’t have much faith in Bass keeping this a 3 run game for long. Better get the bats going in the next inning or two or this game is history.
Liriano fills the spot, Bass stays on the roster…
if Slowey is hurt…
Knowing Gardy it will still be Perkins…”Liriano isn’t ready yet”
I hate Kendrick
Why?
Nice finish by Bass to leave Anderson at third. Grounder to second/Kendrick K
Because his picture on game day makes him look like a smug d-bag, plus he has done pretty well against the Twins in this series.
I hate how Morneau has hit in his last 220 ABs.
How does .216 with 3 HR and 22 RBI sound for your cleanup hitter who just signed a deal with more than $80 mil?
That doesn’t even consider his recent Spring Training where he hit .200 with 1 homer in 60 ABs.
Good reasons.
GW…he is trying to do too much with his at bats. When he was the MVP and hitting over .300 he was taking what the pitchers gave him and going to opposite field…he never hits opposite field anymore.
Hay.. What do you know.
Joe has a new post
This bandwagon is becoming light and maneuverable.
Bicep strain for Slowey.
A “breather” after two games?
Good job of moving the runner to 3rd Cuddyer.
GW,
Do you post on Gopherhole too? I saw those same stats in a post last night
Kendrick is a stud… a poor mans Robinson Cano.
I would love to have him on our team.
Knowing Gardy it will still be Perkins…”Liriano isn’t ready yet”
They wouldn’t need Liriano until Slowey’s next scheduled start. So call up a guy like Perkins to help the bullpen out and swap him for Liriano once his turn in the rotation comes.
Can we have a whole team of Mauer’s instead of the whole team full of Punto’s like we have right now. This can easilly be accomplished by everyone running out and purchasing the Joe “baby Jesus” Mauer Quick Swing Batting Training Aid
That was/will be our best threat today. Nothing to show for it.
Awesome! Leadoff double and the 3 thru 6 hitters leave him at 2nd.
We didn’t get two men on base one time last night.
If Cuddyer would’ve moved the runner over, Mauer possibly could’ve scored on Young’s fly to right.
At least it didn’t take until the 6th inning today to get a baserunner to 2B. We improved by 2 innings.
Is that the first Morneau has been on base this year
He’s got one other walk - his first AB of the year.
IMO Bass has not had his innings stretched out, so he will not be the new starter. It will be Humber until Liriano is ready. Bass will stay as long reliever. (2-3 innings)
No, Morneau walked on his first PA this year.
2 awesome stats:
1. The Twins are 6 for 43 with men on base (.140 BA)
2. 1 run scored in the last 25 innings.
With the way the Royals have been pitching against the Tigers we may not score another run until next week sometime…but no need to panic…I can see it now…Gardy “We just ran into some really hot pitching. The guys are putting some good swings on the ball but we just aren’t getting the breaks”
1 run in 26 innings. 1 more scoreless inning and the Twins will have basically scored 1 run in 3 games.
If this is our A team I will kill myself before the all star break. I would rather have Punto in than see Mauer out again
1 more scoreless inning and the Twins will have basically scored 1 run in 3 games.
Isn’t that what actually happened? 1 Tuesday, none last night, none today.
On the plus side, apparently the pitching isn’t as shakey as we thought. (One blow up, and an arm injury today)
Is Gardy off the hook yet for keeping all our “HITTERS” on the bench last night?
Gomez needs to get it started
If we get shutout again today, then that’ll be true for 3 full games. You have to go back to the 5th inning in the Opener to find the last time the Twins scored a run other than the one scored on Tuesday. It’s 26 innings and counting.
Positive thinking…Maybe this will be our inning…Im just asking for one run.
Heres another chance…RISP
We scored!!!! Wow!!!
Can we get a 2nd?
This place is depressing. This is game 4 of 162. Memories are also short. In June 2006, we were well under .500. In early August, Twins were in 3rd place, 13 games behind. End of season: Twins win division title.
Twins started 2006 with these 5 SPs:
Johan Santana, Brad Radke, Carlos Silva, Kyle Lohse, and Scott Baker (2.5 legitimate pitchers). Boof and Liriano joined the team that year (Blackburn and Humber this year?).
The lineup turned over during the summer to include these 4 stud hitters: Castillo (1), Punto (2), Tyner (8), Bartlett (9) (combined they had like 6 HRs).
I believe we have more potential at pitching and at hitting, especially 8 through 2, than that year.
Hunter didn’t want to stay in Minnesota. Santana wouldn’t stay in Minnesota. We got quality young players for Santana. What are you going to do? Me… I am going to watch these young guys develop and see how many bases Gomez can steal.
It’s early folks. We’ll be fine. It’s baseball and soon we’ll get to watch it in the summer sun with real grass. Ahhhh, that’s gonna be great.
Thats sucks
its obvious that bass has give all he can today…get him out….
Bye Bass
Tolbert needs to come in for Everett
A little late with the hook there, Gardy. It was nice while it lasted for Bass, but once it felt like “a game” again, he realized he was out over his skis a bit and served up the gopher balls. Why not bring in an experienced reliever when you cut the lead to one? Or at the very least, get Rincon up in the bottom of the sixth (Young and Kubel both batted after the second run scored) and bring him in at the first sign of trouble from Bass? (Like, when Torii’s blast settled into the left field seats.) Sheesh. I realize hindsight is 20-20 and it looks so easy from here in the blogosphere, but that one seemed obvious before the inning started.
Awesome come on mauer
